Garment carrier

ABSTRACT

A garment bag or carrier adapted to receive items of wearing apparel for the protection thereof. The carrier is provided with a plurality of multi-wall inflateable panels adapted to receive air under pressure whereby resilient protection is provided for the garments within the carrier and the carrier itself is made substantially more rigid. A supporting cross bar is disposed within the carrier and garments may be placed thereon with separately inflateable liners disposed in interspersed positions therebetween. By reason of the combined construction the carrier can be vertically free standing to support suspended garments or the carrier can itself be suspended by an external support hook.

United States Patent Miles et al.

[54] GARMENT CARRIER [72] inventors: Timothy R. Miles, 4455 W. 61st Place, Arvada, Colo. 80002; Raymond C. Knlttle, 7152 S. Cherry Street, Littleton, Colo. 80120 [58] Field of Search ..206/7 R, 7 H, 7 K, DIG. 30, 206/7 C; 190/41 B, 41 R, 43, 42, 44

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12 1951 Burton, Jr 4/1966 Herz 51 Dec. 26, 1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 16,996 7/ l9l0 Great Britain ..206/DlG. 30

Primary Examiner-George E. Lowrance Assistant Examiner-Stephen Marcus Attorney-C. B. Messenger [5 7 ABSTRACT A garment bag or carrier adapted to receive items of wearing apparel for the protection thereof. The carrier is provided with a plurality of multi-wall inflate-able panels adapted to receive air under pressure whereby resilient protection is provided for-the garments within the carrier and the carrier itself is made substantially more rigid. A supporting cross bar is disposed within the carrier and garments may be placed thereon with separately inflateable liners disposed in interspersed positions therebetween. By reason of the combined construction the carrier can be vertically free standing to support suspended garments or the carrier can itself be suspended by an external support hook.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHEBZB I 1 3.701.225

TIMOTHY R. MILES Y INVENTOH.

\ 1 RAYMOND C. KNITTL' 1 1 W A E ATTORNEY GARMENT CARRIER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Garment bags have recently received widespread acceptance due to conveniences in handling and further due to the protection afforded a users garments. Careless mishandling of a garmentbag, however, when it is disposed in a vehicle or when it is being moved by baggage handlers can result in serious wrinkling of the garments disposed therein. The exterior walls of present garment bags are quite flexible, and, accordingly, little protection is provided for garments if a garment bag is carried by anything other than its intended support hooks or handles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the present invention provides a garment bag or carrier that may be used for travel purposes to protect coats, dresses and similar wearing apparel. The device is especially adaptable for use in automobiles to prevent the wrinkling of wearing apparel while traveling. The carrier itself has inflateable enclosure walls to shield and protect garments disposed therein and further to prevent collapse or disruption of the carrier structure itself. A plurality of inflateable or otherwise resilient liners may be disposed within the carrier in interspersed positions between wearing apparel items placed therein in order to separate garments one from the other and to further prevent wrinkling of the garments. By reason of the inflateable enclosure the carrier may be made free standing, though a hanger support will usually be provided. Detailed features of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front perspective showing an enclosure opening,

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation,

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the disposition of garments and spacers, and

FIG. 4 is a separate elevation illustrating features of an inflateable liner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in FIGS. 1-4 provides a garment carrier 12 and a plurality of liners 13. The carrier provides an enclosure of shape substantially corresponding to the shape of present garment bags. Preferably a flat bottom 14 is provided that is attached to side walls 16, a back panel 17 and front closure flaps 18 and 19. The side walls 16 extend upwardly to provide a top enclosure 21. A slide fastener 22 or other closure is provided to join the front flaps 18 and 19 so that the interior of the carrier 12 is readily accessible or closed as desired. A support hook 23 is provided so that the entire carrier 12 may be suspended from a supporting bar in a closet or in a vehicle. At least the back panel 17 and the front flaps 18 and 19 are preferably provided with a double wall structure so that air may be entrapped therein to add rigidity to the carrier structure and to prevent damage or disruption to the garments enclosed herein. The side walls 16 may likewise provide an inflateable or hollow structure where greater rigidity is required.

Within the enclosure provided by the described elements provision is made for the suspension of a plurality of garments. A cross bar 24 is disposed within the carrier 12 in position at the top thereof and attached to the support hook 23. Garments 26 on the usualhangers may be suspended from the cross bar 24. In order to further prevent damage to or wrinkling of the garments 26, a plurality of spacers or liners are provided for interspersed positioning within the garment carrier 12. If each liner 13 is of a compressable type of resilient material, the garments will be maintained in spaced relationship, and all wrinkling tendencies will be minimized. A type of inflateable liner is shown in FIG. 4. This liner 13 has a plurality of vertically disposed air pockets 27 that are separated one from another by seam welds 28. Preferably the seams are disposed vertically so that the air pockets 27 will likewise be disposed vertically to thereby additionally resist bending influences. A filler valve 29 is provided for each separate liner so that the degree of inflation may be changed. A

similar filler valve 31 is provided on the carrier 12 itself or for the separate panels thereof so that the inflation of such panels may be changed to increase or decrease the rigidity of the carrier as desired. Each separate liner can be provided with a supporting frame 32 that is attached to a hook 33 so that the liner itself may be suspended from the cross bar 24. When the liners 13 and garments 26 are positioned on the cross bar, and the slide fastener 22 is closed, the carrier 12 and its contents can provide a relatively rigid yet yielding combined structure that will protect the garments disposed therein and that will surely minimize the wrinkling of such garments.

The inflated panels of the carrier 12 and the inflated or resilient liners will also tend to protect the garments when the carrier is being handled by baggage attendants or others. If the carrier is laid down or dropped, 'the inflated and/or resilient components will continue to protect the garments. If the carrier is laid down flat, the liners will protect and separate the garments, and if the carrier is otherwise mishandled, the liners tend to hold the garments in organized positions one with order to improve handling characteristics for the carrier. Instead of the usual curved shape a flat portion is provided adjacent the hook end so that it may be more conveniently gripped by the users hand. The flat portion provides a handle that will not cut or tire the hand of a person carrying the device. The internal hook 33 for each separate liner may be of conventional coat hanger shape and configuration. The combination of this hook and the construction of the liner 13 itself provides an additional benefit. A resilient shoulder 34 or inflated lobe of the liner 13 is disposed adjacent the free end of the book 33. This inflated lobe 34 will tend to hold the hook 33 engaged on the cross bar 24 until such time as the lobe is manually displaced when the liner is to be removed from the cross bar.

We claim IOSOIQ. 0186 1. A garment carrier for travel purposes and the like to enclose and support items of wearing apparel that may be disposed therein on garment hangers whereby wrinkling and damage is minimized comprising a structure that is normally vertically flexible inclusive of 5 sidewalls, back and front panels, and a top closure joined'together to provide an enclosure, a base for said carrier, a hanger support on said garment carrier in position above said base for the reception of said garment hangers for maintaining wearing apparel disposed thereon in ordered arrangement, a doubled wall element providing an air chamber for said carrier extending vertically thereof for cooperative action with said base and hanger support, and means for filling said air chamber to minimize bending of said carrier and selectively to provide free standing support for said carrier and the hanger support thereof.

2. Structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said back panel provides said air chamber.

3. Structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein doubled wall elements at said side walls and back panel provide air chambers whereby said garment carrier has a free standing characteristic for the upright support of garments therein when the air chambers are inflated.

4. Structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein separate double-walled inflateable spacer-liners are provided for disposition within said carrier and selectively between garments disposed therein for the protection of said garments.

5. Structure as set forth in claim 4 wherein a flexible plastic material is used for said spacer-liner and further comprising seam welds in said material for the formation of the desirable air chamber.

6. Structure as set forth in claim 4 and further comprising a hook on said spacer-liner for engagement with the hanger support of said garment carrier, and an inflated lobe on said spacer-liner adjacent the free end of the hook for selectively holding the hook engaged on the hanger support. 

1. A garment carrier for travel purposes and the like to enclose and support items of wearing apparel that may be disposed therein on garment hangers whereby wrinkling and damage is minimized comprising a structure that is normally vertically flexible inClusive of sidewalls, back and front panels, and a top closure joined together to provide an enclosure, a base for said carrier, a hanger support on said garment carrier in position above said base for the reception of said garment hangers for maintaining wearing apparel disposed thereon in ordered arrangement, a doubled wall element providing an air chamber for said carrier extending vertically thereof for cooperative action with said base and hanger support, and means for filling said air chamber to minimize bending of said carrier and selectively to provide free standing support for said carrier and the hanger support thereof.
 2. Structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said back panel provides said air chamber.
 3. Structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein doubled wall elements at said side walls and back panel provide air chambers whereby said garment carrier has a free standing characteristic for the upright support of garments therein when the air chambers are inflated.
 4. Structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein separate double-walled inflateable spacer-liners are provided for disposition within said carrier and selectively between garments disposed therein for the protection of said garments.
 5. Structure as set forth in claim 4 wherein a flexible plastic material is used for said spacer-liner and further comprising seam welds in said material for the formation of the desirable air chamber.
 6. Structure as set forth in claim 4 and further comprising a hook on said spacer-liner for engagement with the hanger support of said garment carrier, and an inflated lobe on said spacer-liner adjacent the free end of the hook for selectively holding the hook engaged on the hanger support. 